The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in central Mumbai has held the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner responsible for a deficiency in services at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Olympic Swimming Pool in Dadar and directed the civic body to compensate a state-level swimmer who was denied concessional fees.
Advocate Priti Chavan, a state-level swimming medallist, had approached the BMC seeking concessional fees at the civic-run swimming pool as she needed to practise for a national-level competition. Chavan, sharing a copy of the complaint, told mid-day, “I had gone to the office of the facility, on December 16, 2021, to seek a concession in yearly fees as I am a state-level prize-winning swimmer. The concession was an annual fee of R100, which was agreed upon by the pool officials, according to a BMC circular. Due to some medical emergency at the pool office, the fees were not collected that day. After two days, I went to the office again but the staff there asked me to pay the entire amount to which I raised an objection, showing them the BMC circular. I was told that the manager was not there and later asked to come the next day.”
Advocate Priti Chavan, the complainant
According to the commission’s order, “On December 23, 2021, the complainant [Chavan], visited the office of the swimming facility and applied for directions to the staff concerned for renewal of her identity card after accepting to pay the yearly nominal fees of R100 to which she claims to be entitled. The application was forwarded to the deputy commissioner for orders. The complainant’s application was rejected. The complainant challenged the said order by filing an application dated February 8, 2022, before the additional commissioner, BMC. The application was not decided and kept pending without any reasonable ground by sending it back to the deputy commissioner for orders.”
Frustrated by the lack of response, Chavan moved the consumer forum, not just over the fee issue but also citing poor maintenance of the swimming facility. According to the commission’s orders, “The BMC commissioner is found deficient in providing the services in the Mahatma Gandhi Smarak Olympic Jaltran Talav, Dadar. The commissioner is directed to pay the complainant Rs 15,000 towards compensation for deficiency in services and for physical and mental harassment and agony. The commissioner, BMC is also directed to pay the cost of Rs 7000 for this complaint (sic).” Chavan told mid-day, “To date, the BMC commissioner has not complied with the court order. Therefore, an execution application has been filed in the consumer court, which is to be heard on February 17.”
BMC Speak
The civic body in an affidavit submitted during the hearing had stated, “It is submitted that in point number 8 of the guideline of the fee structure revised schedule for the year 2021-22, it is clearly mentioned that the swimmers who have won medals in national and state-level swimming competitions as well as Dadoji Konddev/Arjuna Award are only eligible for getting concession in yearly fees.”
The affidavit further said, “In the meantime, the BMC decided to consider the application of the complainant as a special case and on obtaining the necessary approval from the competent authority for the same, an amount of R100 was retained towards the yearly fees of the complainant’s membership and the balance amount of R5230 was refunded to the complainant in June and the validity of her identity card was extended for another six months ie till January 2023. Thus, the complainant was not deprived of her rights.”
It further disclosed, “At most, 500 swimmers can swim in the pool at a time. The staff concerned is cleaning the pool and maintaining hygiene on a regular basis. Furthermore, the staff is carrying out regular inspections of the appliances instruments (sic) and if any of the instruments are found in non-working condition, immediate steps are taken to get the same repaired or replaced.”
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